What Is Iron Harvest?

KING Art Games imagines an alternate world immediately following the “War to End All Wars.” What’s getting everyone excited today is the art from Jakub Różalski.

“After World War I farmers found a plethora of unexploded ordnance, barbed wire, weapons, shrapnel and bullets while ploughing their fields. They called it the Iron Harvest.”

This “Iron Harvest” brought the mighty machines of World War I into the lives of ordinary people. And domesticated bears?

Hey, why not? We have hulking machines carrying supersized rifles. I don’t see why domesticated bears are a problem.

Besides a collection of outstanding art, what is ‘Iron Harvest?’

Iron Harvest gameplay

KING Art Games and Różalski are opting to go with the oft-overlooked real-time strategy genre. Yes, there’s companies working on strategy games – but the genre is still a far cry from the days of Age of Empires, Warcraft, Rise of Nations and Command & Conquer. Iron Harvest will add to the still small RTS catalog on consoles when it hits PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2018.

RTS fans know there’s an entire subset of RTS games within the genre. 4X, base-building focused, action focused and so on. KING Art Games points to Company of Heroes and Men at War as inspiration for Iron Harvest.

“We love games like Company of Heroes or Men at War and want to bring a similar gameplay experience to this fantastic world Jakub created,” says Jan Theysen, Project Lead at KING Art Games. “You lead hero characters, mechs, and soldiers into epic battles in open sandbox maps. Cover mechanics and dynamic destruction play a major role in combat.”

That means minimal base building. Don’t go into Iron Harvest thinking you’re going to build huge bases ala Age of Empires. Iron Harvest will keep the action much tighter and focused on a smaller number of units. Here’s a developer diary for Company of Heroes 2 to give you an idea of what Iron Harvest is aiming for.

Alright, I’m still pumped to see more – but I was hoping for a more ‘traditional’ RTS. Nothing against games like Company of Heroes and Men of War, but I enjoy the base building aspects in older RTS games a lot.

Still, Company of Heroes is one of my favorite RTS games out there. If the devs can nail the gameplay, I’ll have no problems forgetting about base building.

Iron Harvest story

A new take on the post-1920’s world means a new set of players. The developer describes how several factions fight for power and “hidden forces are working towards the destabilization of Europe, determined to set the world on fire once again.”

Here are the three main factions we know about:

The Saxony Empire is one of the most influential countries in Europe, with powerful industry, developed cities, modern factories and a strong military tradition. After the unfavorable conditions of surrender in the Great War, the current mood in the Empire is bad, and proud elites and humiliated aristocrats secretly oppose the Emperor’s appeasement policies.

The Polania Republic is a large agricultural country with a long history. It is trying to maintain its status and territory, struggling with its aggressive neighbors: The Saxony Empire in the west and Rusviet in the east. Polania initiated a program to modernize its army while a large part of the country is still occupied by Rusviet forces.

Rusviet is huge, powerful, and has unmatched industrial and population potential. However, the country is tired and worn out by the long war. People are frustrated, and the power of Tsar Nikolaj weakens. Mysterious Grigori Rasputin has become an extraordinarily powerful man and revolution is in the air…

Iron Harvest’s art

Every game needs a hook. And right now, Iron Harvest’s hook is its art. Jakub Różalski’s vision of an alternate 1920’s+ Europe is stunning. Massive machines towering in the air are juxtaposed with farmers tending their fields.

Black exhaust billows from huge machines of war as they meander on rolling green hills.

And more domesticated bears.

Ok, I’m going to be disappointed if the bear isn’t playable at this point.

The Dwarves

We will get our first look at how well KING Art Games makes games with The Dwarves on December 1st. The developer raised more than $310,000 from 5,900+ backers on Kickstarter back in 2015. Check out the gameplay trailer below.

That looks pretty solid. The Dwarves is coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC in less than a month.